Cloud computing is a computing infrastructure for enabling ubiquitous access to shared pools of servers, storage, computer networks, applications and data resources, which can be rapidly provisioned, often over the Internet.
A data resource in this context is any form of executable software or data structure, usually but not exclusively for providing a service, for example a data analysis application, a data transformation application, a report generating application, a machine learning process, a spreadsheet or a database.
Some companies provide cloud computing services for registered customers, for example manufacturing and technology companies, to create, store, manage and execute their own data resources. Sometimes, these data resources may interact with other software resources, for example those provided by the cloud platform provider.
For example, an engine manufacturer may create and store a database relating to spare parts for the different models of engines it produces and services. The database may, for example, be a multi-dimensional relational database. The engine manufacturer may also create one or more data analysis applications for performing certain tasks on data held in the database, for example to analyse and/or transform the data in order to identify trends which may be useful for predicting when certain parts will fail and/or need replacing, and hence when to produce and deploy the spare parts.
Proprietary or open-source software platforms used for such applications can be limited in terms of robustness and security, which can be problematic given that multiple different organisations may be storing and executing their own data resources on the same platform. There is a concern, for example, that data resources belonging to one organisation may impact data resources belonging to another organisation. Within a particular organisation, users who, having passed an initial layer of security provided by the platform, may be able to modify data resources when this was not the intention.